Hi all,
Following another busy summer of vegetation fire call-outs and a series of deployments to Southland, Nelson and Victoria (Australia), activity for the Lake Okareka Rural Fire as we have moved into the winter months has primarily focused on training, including participating in a recent large scale live burn co-ordinated incident scenario.
Following another busy summer of vegetation fire call-outs and a series of deployments to Southland, Nelson and Victoria (Australia), activity for the Lake Okareka Rural Fire as we have moved into the winter months has primarily focused on training, including participating in a recent large scale live burn co-ordinated incident scenario.
Lake Okareka Firefighter in the rural fire category (from left): Phil Muldoon, Kirsty Lyall and Stu Lyall.
In May, another team from Lake Okareka took on the annual Sky Tower Firefighter Stair Climb. This year, the team was split, with two members completing the usual event of climbing 51 floors in 25kg of firefighter kit, and three others participating in a new Rural Fire event which involved climbing an additional 9 floors (total of 60 floors) carrying a chainsaw instead of an oxygen cylinder. All of the team completed their events with very respectable times, achieving a first, two seconds and a third in their various categories.
In June, a ‘turning of the soil’ ceremony, which was attended by members of FENZ, Rotorua Lakes Council and the local community, took place at the fire station to signify the start of the new station build project. Site works for the project are due to get underway mid to late September.
As the cold weather lingers on for the next couple of months, take care on the roads around the area which may still become greasy or slippery in wet and icy conditions. Also, if you have been using your fire a lot over the winter, don’t forget to clean your chimney regularly, and remember the ‘meter from the heater’ rule if drying washing near the fire or heating appliances.
If you have been thinking about joining and would like to see what we are about, please come down to the fire station at 7:30pm on a Wednesday night when we do training or phone me on 3628 874. You can also go to our website: www.okarekaruralfire.com.
Phil Muldoon
Chief Fire Officer
In June, a ‘turning of the soil’ ceremony, which was attended by members of FENZ, Rotorua Lakes Council and the local community, took place at the fire station to signify the start of the new station build project. Site works for the project are due to get underway mid to late September.
As the cold weather lingers on for the next couple of months, take care on the roads around the area which may still become greasy or slippery in wet and icy conditions. Also, if you have been using your fire a lot over the winter, don’t forget to clean your chimney regularly, and remember the ‘meter from the heater’ rule if drying washing near the fire or heating appliances.
If you have been thinking about joining and would like to see what we are about, please come down to the fire station at 7:30pm on a Wednesday night when we do training or phone me on 3628 874. You can also go to our website: www.okarekaruralfire.com.
Phil Muldoon
Chief Fire Officer
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